United Continental posts quarterly loss on one-time charges

Published 9:35 pm, Thursday, January 26, 2012

A passenger checks in last week at a United Continental Holdings kiosk at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. After merger-related expenses, the company had a profit of $840 million for 2011.

A passenger checks in last week at a United Continental Holdings kiosk at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. After merger-related expenses, the company had a profit of $840 million for 2011.

Photo: Daniel Acker

United Continental posts quarterly loss on one-time charges

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United Continental Holdings lost $138 million in the fourth quarter, including $247 million in special charges primarily related to integration of the two airlines.

Excluding those charges, the Chicago-based carrier reported $109 million in net income, or 30 cents a share.

For 2011, United reported an $840 million profit, even after merger-related expenses cut nearly half a billion dollars from the bottom line. In announcing the results Thursday, executives noted that absent those costs, the company's net income was $1.3 billion for the year.

CEO Jeff Smisek called 2011 a "year of many successes," highlighted by the federal single-operating certificate granted in November that allows the former United and Continental airlines to operate as one.

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The executives said the company would realize "significantly" more synergies from the merger systemwide in 2012, especially once it fully integrates the Continental and United reservation systems and loyalty programs and combines the two websites into a unified united.com on which passengers can buy tickets, select seats and monitor flight status. That is expected to occur March 1.

While United Continental's overall capacity was down slightly for the year, Latin America was cited as a strong growth area. Capacity was up 11.7 percent for the last three months and 17.6 percent for the year overall.

As United's "gateway to Latin America," the Houston hub will continue to be the company's largest in terms of departures, Smisek said.